Igniter Series Fires Up

Four companies lined up for a live pitch session before local angel investors yesterday at SEEDCache Valley’s LivePitch & Networking Event, held at USU Innovation Campus. Who got to play ball? Russell Thornton took the audience vote with his AmberAlert GPS; Dr. Amrit K. Judd, SynVax, Inc. presented her research work on an analgesic; Bryon Geddes offered software projects for fundraising; and Jeff Muhs, SimplySunlightInc. won the vote of a panel of experts which was comprised of regional investors.  The clock started with each individual and they had four minutes to present their business idea. Three minutes, each, were allotted for Q & A from the panelists and audience; followed by 2 minutes of suggestions from the panelists on how the presenters might improve their pitches.

This pitch will be followed by another contest in Spring 2009, Concept-to-Company, which will select a first place winner to receive $20,000 and two second place winners who will receive $10,000 each.

SEEDCache Valley is the local arm of entrepreneurial supporters who are part of the Grow Utah non-profit that seeks to identify a proven up and coming business that is ready to move forward with the aid of an infusion of capital. They help to fuel the economy and create new jobs in a community. They provide a private source of capital for early stage entrepreneurs.

Alan Hall, founder of the company Grow Utah announced at the Cache Chamber of Commerce’s 3^rd Tuesday Forum that they are now ready to expand into other states with “Grow America.” Businesses will be able to tap into their expertise at the new Website www.growamericaventure.com.

What Does It Take to Be an Angel Investor?

According to the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation, angel investors are usually multimillionaires – often self made, cashed-out entrepreneurs. They have additional capital and business experience, and they’re not ready to retire. They want to be involved with start-ups without the sleepless nights of start-ups. They are private, accredited investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines accredited investors as having $1 million in net worth (excluding residence) or an annual income of more than $200,000 (or $300,000 with a spouse).

Angel investors prefer to invest in local ventures that can be reached by an easy drive (no more than 150 miles away), so they can play an active role and monitor their investments. They often finance manufacturing or product-oriented ventures, especially in high-tech fields.

Angel investment rounds usually range from $250,000 to $2 million. Individual angels typically invest between $40,000 to $100,000 in a deal. Most angel investors are successful entrepreneurs, so besides financial support, many also provide business expertise and connections to the companies they fund.

So, who are they looking for? Angel investors look for companies with strong growth potential, proven management teams and sufficient information about related markets so their value can be accessed. They expect high returns for their higher-risk investments – on average, 10 to 15 percentage points above the S&P 500 return on equity.

Could you be one of these angels? There are an estimated 20 million prospective angels nationwide, with about 227,000 angels actively investing (in 2005). Presently there are around 80 active angels within the state of Utah working within several clusters. Cache Valley has several investors and is hoping to expand their activity. Other perks from being an angel investor include involvement with the company and satisfaction from knowing that their investment has helped a successful business grow.

For more information, visit www.growutah.com

• Present a tangible with your show and tell. Show your product.
• Early on in the presentation, be clear on how much money you need; how you'll use it.
• What kind of sales do you already have? How will you get your product to the market?
• Be bold and stand by it. i.e. "We're worth $2 million and in 2 years we will be worth $10 million."
• Find the differentiating points with competitors and articulate them quickly.
• Don't underestimate the value of business partners. Ask your biggest investors to help.
• Pitches are about shared passion; what you have in common with an investor.
• Show you have the ability to take something forward.
• Have a strong management team. It's all about management, management, management.

SCORE Launches New Web site for Women

SCORE has launched a new Web site for women atwww.score.org/women.

The Web site provides interactive tools, mentoring, workshops and articles that can help women entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. Visitors are encouraged to complete a simple registration form to take advantage of the full range of options.

Another took introduced for women calls on the expertise of four women entrepreneurs. The new "SCORE Women's Success Blog" is that tool. This is the first blog from SCORE at the national level. Comments and questions from blog visitors are welcome. The blog Web site address is http://womensblog.score.org

Cache Chamber of Commerce Happenings

Speed Networking with area business owners and community leaders at the Cache Chamber of Commerce Quarterly 3rd Tuesday Luncheon Forum, December 16 at noon at the Copper Mill Restaurant (55 North Main, Logan)

The forum helps keep your business up-to-date with local and regional issues, and business trends. It's also a great place to generate leads for your business.

Bring plenty of business cards and your elevator speech. Wondering what an elevator speech is? It’s a succinct statement of your business that you can relay to another in the time it takes to ride the elevator. This will be a good occasion to practice yours.

Call the Chamber to RSVP 435-752-2161 or register at rsvp@cachechamber.com.

Are You in Compliance with Your New Hire Reporting?

Cache and Salt Lake Chambers teamed up last week to bring a special training session to the CBRC for the E-Verification System that determines employee eligibility. As of July 1, 2009 all new hires will be required to be run through this system. Presently, the State of Utah requires any entity with whom they do business to use this system.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, provided the facts for reporting new hires and fair employment guidelines which help to avoid discrimination. If you missed this very informative training session, contact the CBRC for copies of the presentation. croberts@cachebrc.com.

Would Your Company Survive an Interruption in Business?

Are you prepared? Ready Your Business with help from Be Ready Utahhttp://www.utahsbdc.org/folder.aspx?f=260. On-line coursework for Business Continuity that will help to minimize impact to your company in the event of an earthquake — fire  — flood (yes, broken pipes count) — illness — construction… the list goes on. Contact Cindy at CBRC to see how the Center can help get you ready. croberts@cachebrc.com

Disaster Recovery for Virtualized Environments

Join this interactive and informative luncheon workshop to learn how to build a simple, scalable and cost-effective disaster recovery solution for your virtual server environment!

As companies put an increasing number of business critical applications on virtual servers, the need for high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) becomes even more important.

 Discover how you can leverage the benefits of storage virtualization and server virtualization to build a disaster recovery solution that:  

• Delivers both high availability and disaster recovery for superior data protection
• Combines LeftHand storage virtualization with server virtualization to create an affordable HA/DR solution that is easy to implement
• Integrates remote and branch offices into your disaster recovery plan

In this live demonstration, you will learn how to simplify and automate the DR process using VMware© Site Recovery Manager integrated with a LeftHand SAN.  

Date: December 2, 2008 

Location:  Salt Lake City, UT

Register >>

 All attendees receive evaluation copies of LeftHand's virtual storage software in addition to assistance with creating your own cost effective disaster recovery plan.

Lunch will be served -               Parking validated  -                     Space is limited - Register today!

Putting Benefits Terms in Language Employees Understand

October 24, 2008 by Bill Meltzer   HR Benefits Alert    www.hrbenefitsalert.com

It’s no surprise that many employees find benefits concepts hard to understand. 

There’s a lot of jargon and alphabet soup to decode, such as what FSA and HSA mean, and how the healthcare accounts differ. Here’s communication strategist Howard Smith’s four-step approach for decoding benefits information:

1. Simplify words and images

Imagine you’re talking to someone who hardly speaks English. Use basic words. Example: Instead of “Your co-pay is X dollars, ”try, “You pay X dollars.”

2. Explain it emotionally

Few employees get jazzed up about terms like “pre-tax dollars” and “formularies.” But they pay attention if you talk about emotional issues like keeping their family healthy or saving money by using generic drugs.

3. Tell real-life stories

Story-telling is a great way to illustrate the workings of your benefit programs. Create credible stories (or, even better, tell real ones) using everyday language and situations. When people realize “this could be me,” it’s much easier to get buy-in.

4. Use interactive learning tools

Simple teaching tools, like quizzes or puzzles, engage employees.

Example: Want to encourage weight loss? Create a “test your knowledge” quiz about how small changes – like drinking one fewer soda each day – can make a big difference in the long run.

Allow employees to discover the answers for themselves.

Spanish Resources:

 Department of Labor:  http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/Spanish-speakingTopic.htm

Frequently Cited OSHA Standards:  http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/citedstandard.html

Join these Business Partners Helping the CBRC—

Bridgerland Applied Technology College - Cache Chamber of Commerce · Bear River Association of · Governments · SCORE · Utah Nonprofits Association  Manufacturers Partnership (MEP) · USTAR · Utah State University ·  Western Rural Development Center -  Bank of Utah · Cache Valley Electric · Key Bank · Staples · WestHost · Zions Bank     

One-stop Knowledge Base

CBRC provides a physical environment where emerging and established businesses can experience a collaborative environment of training, counseling, state-of-the-art operating space, and relevant resource information from both government and private providers. 

State-of-the-art floor and office space, conference and training rooms, expertise, and other amenities are available at a reasonable cost.  The CBRC will provide the coordination of education, training, business planning, mentoring, and other business resources for all stages of the business cycle.  It will be a one-stop shop for the knowledge base for business creation, expansion, and success. Incubator services, both on-site and virtual, will include educational programs and technical assistance for both owner and employees.

What does CBRC provide?

·   Furnished Office Space & Cubicles

· Multipurpose Areas for Training, Classrooms

· Telephone & IT Data Services & Support

· Manufacturing Areas for, Product Setup, Tooling, and Production

· Convenient Parking and Loading Docks

· 24/7 Security Card Building Access

· Utilities & Janitorial Services

· Meeting & Conference Rooms

· Multimedia and AV Presentation Equipment

· Internet and Computer Lab Access

· Cafeteria and Food Service Catering

· Location Central to Logan's Industrial Area

· ADA  Accessibility

· Direct public transportation access by Logan's Transit System

· Office Support

· Utilities & Overhead

SCORE_® Counseling: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m. ;

                                       Wednesday 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

SCORE_®  Workshops: www.cachebrc.com

To Register by Phone: 435.753.6780

To Register in Person:

Cache Business Resource Center

BATC West Campus

1400 North 1000 West

Rooms 1901-1905 (NW Entrance) Logan, UT 84321

For more about the Center, visit: www.cachebrc.com